The IκB kinase (IKK) complex controls processes such as inflammation, immune responses, cell survival and the proliferation of both normal and tumor cells. By activating NFκB, the IKK complex contributes to G1/S transition and first evidence has been presented that IKKα also regulates entry into mitosis. At what stage IKK is required and whether IKK also contributes to progression through mitosis and cytokinesis, however, has not yet been determined. In this study, we use BMS-345541, a potent allosteric small molecule inhibitor of IKK, to inhibit IKK specifically during G2 and during mitosis. We show that BMS-345541 affects several mitotic cell-cycle transitions, including mitotic entry, prometaphase to anaphase progression and cytokinesis. Adding BMS-345541 to the cells released from arrest in S-phase blocked the activation of aurora A, B and C, Cdk1 activation and histone H3 phosphorylation. Additionally, treatment of the mitotic cells with BMS-345541 resulted in precocious cyclin B1 and securin degradation, defective chromosome separation and improper cytokinesis. BMS-345541 was also found to override the spindle checkpoint in nocodazole-arrested cells. In vitro kinase assays using BMS-345541 indicate that these effects are not primarily due to a direct inhibitory effect of BMS-345541 on mitotic kinases such as Cdk1, Aurora A or B, Plk1 or NEK2. This study points towards a new potential role of IKK in cell cycle progression. Since deregulation of the cell-cycle is one of the hallmarks of tumor formation and progression, the newly discovered level of BMS 345541 function could be useful for cell-cycle control studies and may provide valuable clues for the design of future therapeutics.


It is a well admitted fact that oxygen contamination shall be avoided during H 2 S cracking tests of low alloy steels. In the 2016 revisions of NACE TM0177 and NACE TM0284 documents, quantitative limits of O 2 contamination were included with thresholds at 10 and 50 ppb of dissolved oxygen depending on the considered mechanical properties of the tested grade. However, the scientific basis of these values are not well established and there is still a lack of experimental data to illustrate the potential impacts of an oxygen pollution. In addition, while the revised test methods explicitly address initial contamination of the test solution before H 2 S introduction, they do not consider a continuous oxygen supply during testing. Yet, continuous contamination is extremely difficult to be completely eliminated. In order to better understand the impact of O 2 contamination on H 2 S cracking, a 3-years Joint Industrial Project was launched at the end of 2015. The objectives were to evaluate if O 2 contamination can affect H 2 S cracking test results. A range of steel grades covering different types of O&G applications for High H 2 S content were used. SSC (uniaxial tensile tests as well as 4 point-bend) and HIC tests were conducted, with well controlled and continuous O 2 contamination. Three levels of O 2 partial pressures in the gas feed corresponding to 300 ppb, 50 ppb and less than 10 ppb dissolved O 2 were used. In parallel to the standard qualification tests, hydrogen permeation and weight-loss corrosion experiments were performed with the same test matrix, covering all regions of the SSC severity diagram. This paper aims at sharing the main results of this project for high H 2 S content.


Modifications in the sensitivity of neural elements allow the brain to adapt its functions to varying demands. Frequency-dependent short-term synaptic depression (STD) provides a dynamic gain-control mechanism enabling adaptation to different background conditions alongside enhanced sensitivity to input-driven changes in activity. In contrast, synapses displaying frequency-invariant transmission can faithfully transfer ongoing presynaptic rates enabling linear processing, deemed critical for many functions. However, rigid frequency-invariant transmission may lead to runaway dynamics and low sensitivity to changes in rate. Here, I investigated the Purkinje cell to deep cerebellar nuclei neuron synapses (PC_DCNs), which display frequency invariance, and yet, PCs maintain background activity at disparate rates, even at rest. Using protracted PC_DCN activation (120 s) to mimic background activity in cerebellar slices from mature mice of both sexes, I identified a previously unrecognized, frequency-dependent, slow STD (S-STD), adapting IPSC amplitudes in tens of seconds to minutes. However, after changes in activation rates, over a behavior-relevant second-long time window, S-STD enabled scaled linear encoding of PC rates in synaptic charge transfer and DCN spiking activity. Combined electrophysiology, optogenetics, and statistical analysis suggested that S-STD mechanism is input-specific, involving decreased ready-to-release quanta, and distinct from faster short-term plasticity (f-STP). Accordingly, an S-STD component with a scaling effect (i.e., activity-dependent release sites inactivation), extending a model explaining PC_DCN release on shorter timescales using balanced f-STP, reproduced the experimental results. Thus, these results elucidates a novel slow gain-control mechanism able to support linear transfer of behavior-driven/learned PC rates concurrently with background activity adaptation, and furthermore, provides an alternative pathway to refine PC output. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The brain can adapt to varying demands by dynamically changing the gain of its synapses; however, some tasks require ongoing linear transfer of presynaptic rates, seemingly incompatible with nonlinear gain adaptation. Here, I report a novel slow gain-control mechanism enabling scaled linear encoding of presynaptic rates over behavior-relevant time windows, and adaptation to background activity at the Purkinje to deep cerebellar nuclear neurons synapses (PC_DCNs). A previously unrecognized PC_DCNs slow and frequency-dependent short-term synaptic depression (S-STD) mediates this process. Experimental evidence and simulations suggested that scaled linear encoding emerges from the combination of S-STD slow dynamics and frequency-invariant transmission at faster timescales. These results demonstrate a mechanism reconciling rate code with background activity adaptation and suitable for flexibly tuning PCs output via background activity modulation.


The aim of the present experiment was to assess the effect of the association of the spineless cactus with sunflower silage, sorghum silage, leucena hay, pigeon pea hay or elephant grass hay on intake, apparent digestibility of nutrients and milk yield and composition in crossbred lactating cows. Five cows with average body weight and daily milk yield of 516.1 and 11.1kg, respectively. The intakes of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, total carbohydrates and non-fibrous carbohydrates, milk yield, contents and yield (kg/day) of fat, protein and total solids of milk and digestibility of crude protein and non-fibrous carbohydrates were not influenced by the combination of the silage and hay with cactus. The ether extract intake, fat-corrected milk yield and feed efficiency were higher to treatment with sunflower silage compared to hays. The neutral detergent fiber intake was higher in the treatment with elephant grass hay compared to sunflower silage. Sunflower silage produced higher fat-corrected milk and better feed efficiency when compared to hay.


ABSTRACT Bowed string music has always existed as an aural culture with improvisation considered as a prime focus of expression. It is the author's strong belief that experimentation is the natural state of all string music. This paper concentrates on recent history: bows that have incorporated interactive sensor technology. The central narrative deals with the author's own experiments and experience at STEIM since 1987. How reliable and practical is this technology? Are the results worth the trouble? Are there new modes of improvising only possible with an interactive bow?


Objective viral hepatitis is a big challenge in China. However, few studies have focused on mapping the difficulties from a broader view. This study aimed to identify the barriers to the prevention and control of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in communities from the perspectives of hepatitis patients, residents, and healthcare providers. A total of 26 participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were collected by in-depth face-to-face interviews from September 2015 to May 2016 in two communities from Chongqing and Chengdu, China. A thematic framework was applied to analyze the qualitative data from the interviews. The critical factors of barriers to hepatitis prevention and control in the districts included poor cognition of residents regarding hepatitis B and hepatitis C, severe stigma in society, inadequate health education, and the provision of unsatisfactory medical services. Strengthening health education and improving services for treating patients with hepatitis are suggested to make further progress. A substantial gap remains between the need and currently available services for hepatitis patients and residents. Delivering quality prevention and control health services, improving health education, and reducing stigma in society are recommended to improve the prevention and control program for hepatitis B and C in communities.


This paper discusses the experiences of designing and producing an ongoing series of experimental interactive satellite transmissions, incorporating live studio broadcasts, ISDN based video conferencing, and asynchronous email/ISDN tutorials. A WWW site acts as a focus for these asynchronous activities, operating as a central hub, providing information and key references (papers, images, case studies, hyperlinks, etc). The convergence of these technologies generates a distributed digital 'space' (satellite footprint covering western Europe, studio space, screen space, WWW space, location/reception space). This space is further developed and extended by the quarterly publication of a paper-based interpretation of content inspired by, or translated from, the digital activity. The digital and paper-based versions of MEDIASP ACE explore a variety of 'spaces'; the WWW space, the computer screen, the studio space, the TV screen, and the printed page. There is also a novel and dynamic set of relationships established between the presenters (studio based), the participant/audience (located across Europe), and the reader. As an electronic publishing experiment in real time ('live' media) delivery, combined with a backbone of pre-packaged information ('dead' media content), the MEDIASP ACE transmissions provide a provocative model for the convergence of 'publishing', 'networked', and 'broadcast' forms and technologies. Whilst the focus for some of the MEDIASP ACE productions has been to provide a 'learning' environment for the audience/participants, this paper concentrates on the efforts to forge a coherent media 'form' through the convergence of the technologies used. A variety of visual and spatial metaphors were employed to help establish a common reference for locating the dispersed community. However, a variety of information design and 'packaging' techniques used to delivery facts, processes, ideas, and concepts through such a system are discussed.


SUMMARY: Certain sub-lines of a strain of Salmonella paratyphi C contain 10% or more of motile flagellated bacteria when in exponential growth at 37°. Less than 0°1% of the organisms are motile after prolonged exponential growth at 20°. Single motile organisms isolated from cultures grown at 37° transmitted motility to only one or a few of their descendants during growth at 20°; they behaved as if their motility were due to non-multiplying motility-conferring (MC) particles. There is a good correlation between the distributions of number of MC particles/motile bacterium as indicated by the numbers of motile descendants at 20°, and the distributions of number of flagella/flagellated bacterium in stained preparations. It is inferred that one MC particle corresponds to one flagellum. The results support the hypotheses that in some cases flagella arise as a consequence of discontinuous intra-cellular events, each of which leads to the synthesis of a small number of flagella, and that parental flagella are shared amongst progeny bacteria until no descendant has more than one flagellum derived from a parental cell several generations removed. This sharing is not detected unless synthesis of new flagella ceases whilst bacterial growth continues. Single flagella may be unilinearly transmitted for over 20 generations.


As a new structure of heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) media, the "surface plasmon assisted HAMR (SPAH) media" was studied to increase the near-field optical power in magnetic media with the aid of the surface plasmon effect at the metal/dielectric interface. Since the near-field light penetrating a nano-slit aperture is coupled at the metal/dielectric interface of the SPAH media, surface plasmon polaritons are excited in the SPAH media, resulting in the enhancement of near-field optical power for HAMR applications. From finite differential time domain (FDTD) simulations, we found that the near-field optical intensity through the nano-slit aperture shows a value 5 times higher at the surface of SPAH media than that shown with conventional discrete track media. In addition, the spot size can be reduced by this near-field optical coupling in the SPAH media. The geometric variables of SPAH media as well as the tolerance of the head and media location were also studied to understand the optimum structure of SPAH media in consideration of the fabrication process.


Several variational problems involving optimum wing and body combinations having minimum wave drag for different kinds of geometrical restraints are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the effect on the wave drag of shortening the fuselage and, for slender axially symmetric bodies, the effect of fixing the fuselage diameter at several points or even of fixing whole portions of its shape.


Objective: The aim of this study is to build an up to date and easy to use Turkish Social Media Addiction Scale for Adolescents. Methods: The sample of the study included 2020 high school students. The scale was five-point Likert-type and consisted of 13 items. The internal consistency of the items was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha coefficient, summability Tukey summability test, adequacy of the number of units in the sample Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test, factorability Bartlett test, factor structure main components analysis. Results: Cronbach alfa internal consistency coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.869. The scale consists of three sub-factors: choosing virtual life, impairment in functionality, and virtual pleasure. Total stated variance regarding the scale was 58.89%. Discussion: As a result of this study, a high reliability and validity social media dependency scale was developed. However, it should be kept in mind that all scales developed cannot be valid and reliable in the long term since social media use behaviors in individuals may change over time. (Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry 2020; 21(Suppl.1):56-61)


Since the emergence of COVID-19, many publications have reported associations with ABO blood types. Despite between-study discrepancies, an overall consensus has emerged whereby blood group O appears associated with a lower risk of COVID-19, while non-O blood types appear detrimental. Two major hypotheses may explain these findings: First, natural anti-A and anti-B antibodies could be partially protective against SARS-CoV-2 virions carrying blood group antigens originating from non-O individuals. Second, O individuals are less prone to thrombosis and vascular dysfunction than non-O individuals and therefore could be at a lesser risk in case of severe lung dysfunction. Here, we review the literature on the topic in light of these hypotheses. We find that between-study variation may be explained by differences in study settings and that both mechanisms are likely at play. Moreover, as frequencies of ABO phenotypes are highly variable between populations or geographical areas, the ABO coefficient of variation, rather than the frequency of each individual phenotype is expected to determine impact of the ABO system on virus transmission. Accordingly, the ABO coefficient of variation correlates with COVID-19 prevalence. Overall, despite modest apparent risk differences between ABO subtypes, the ABO blood group system might play a major role in the COVID-19 pandemic when considered at the population level.


While the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") has been law for over 30 years, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to adopt a definitive standard for how plaintiffs win damages under Title II of that law. Further, while the Rehabilitation Act ("RA") has been law for almost 50 years, the Fifth Circuit has failed to announce any specific standard for how plaintiffs obtain damages under that law as well. I previously wrote an article in the pages of this journal that sought to "clarify" the Fifth Circuit's jurisprudence on the issue. In Fifth Indifference: Clarifying the Fifth Circuit's Intent Standard for Damages Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 7 Tex. A&M L. Rev. Arguendo 1 (2019), I argued (1) that the Fifth Circuit should adopt the "deliberate indifference" standard and (2) that no Fifth Circuit precedent should be read as explicitly forbidding the adoption of that standard. My paper has seen great success in its downloads and its recent citation in a brief to the Fifth Circuit. However, the Fifth Circuit has still failed to adopt any specific standard and continues to use phrases like "seem to have required" and "something more than deliberate indifference." Fortunately, what the Fifth Circuit has said and what it has done have been two different things. In reality, the Fifth Circuit has been using nothing more, less, or different than a standard deliberate indifference analysis. Thus, the "seem to have required more than deliberate indifference" standard is a mere charade. This charade should now be abandoned, and the Fifth Circuit should explicitly adopt the deliberate indifference standard. That standard being (1) a defendant knew of facts that presented a substantial risk of harm to an ADA or RA right and (2) the actor or entity failed to act appropriately on that risk.

To make this argument, this Article is divided as follows. Part I discusses the historical and doctrinal background of the ADA and the RA. Part II discusses how other circuits have addressed the issue of damages actions under Title II of the ADA and the RA. Part III discusses the Fifth Circuit's relevant jurisprudence. Part IV then explains why the Fifth Circuit should explicitly adopt deliberate indifference. Finally, Part V briefly argues why lower courts and any individual panels of the Fifth Circuit could ignore the "something more than deliberate indifference" standard and explicitly adopt ordinary "deliberate indifference."


Motivated by cognitive radios, stochastic multi-player multi-armed bandits gained a lot of interest recently. In this class of problems, several players simultaneously pull arms and encounter a collision - with 0 reward - if some of them pull the same arm at the same time. While the cooperative case where players maximize the collective reward (obediently following some fixed protocol) has been mostly considered, robustness to malicious players is a crucial and challenging concern. Existing approaches consider only the case of adversarial jammers whose objective is to blindly minimize the collective reward. We shall consider instead the more natural class of selfish players whose incentives are to maximize their individual rewards, potentially at the expense of the social welfare. We provide the first algorithm robust to selfish players (a.k.a. Nash equilibrium) with a logarithmic regret, when the arm performance is observed. When collisions are also observed, Grim Trigger type of strategies enable some implicit communication-based algorithms and we construct robust algorithms in two different settings: the homogeneous (with a regret comparable to the centralized optimal one) and heterogeneous cases (for an adapted and relevant notion of regret). We also provide impossibility results when only the reward is observed or when arm means vary arbitrarily among players.


Abstract. Spatio-temporal evolution of rogue waves measured in Taiwanese coastal waters is reconstructed by means of numerical simulations. Their lifetimes are up to 100 s. The time series used for reconstructions were measured at dimensionless depths within the range of kh = 1.3–4.0, where k is the wave number and h is the depth. All identified rogue waves are surprisingly weakly nonlinear. The variable-coefficient approximate evolution equations, which take into account the shoaling effect, allow us to analyze the abnormal wave evolution over non-uniform real coastal bathymetry. The shallowest simulated point is characterized by kh a 0.7. The reconstruction reveals an interesting peculiarity of the coastal rogue events: though the mean wave amplitudes increase as waves travel onshore, rogue waves are likely to occur at deeper locations, but not closer to the coast.


The Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission (GSWCC) is charged with coordinating the operation and maintenance of 357 USDA/Soil and Water Conservation District sponsored watershed dams in Georgia. A majority of these dams were built during a program that began in 1957 that encouraged the construction of watershed dams designed to serve as sediment traps and to provide flood protection for agricultural lands in what was once considered to be rural Georgia. Most of these watershed dams are maintained and operated by soil and water conservation districts. In a few cases, cities or counties have the responsibility to operate and maintain the structures. GSWCC, in coordination with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), completed a study by a private engineering firm to assemble data that established viability for municipal and industrial (M&I) water supply for an abbreviated list of 166 of the 357 watershed structures. This data included a preliminary analysis of yield potential of the watershed structures and associated stream, and dam proximity to existing surface water intake. Environmental issues included trout water, threatened and endangered species, wetlands impacted, streams impacted, and potential impacts to cultural resources. Ultimately 20 dams were selected for detailed water supply assessments. Each assessment included a detailed analysis of yield potential for the structures to include use as pump storage facility, an estimate of current and future water demand based on population projections, and the identity and quantity of environmental issues. Detailed cost estimates addressed construction costs, costs associated with the mitigation of environmental impacts and costs for land rights required to secure ownership of these dams.


This paper proposes a new method for enhancing the contrast of color images based on Wavelet Transform and human visual system. The RGB (red, green, and blue) values of each pixel in a color image are converted to HSV (hue, saturation and value) values. To the V (luminance value) components of the color image, Wavelet Transform is applied so that the V components are decomposed into the approximate components and detail components. The obtained coefficients of the approximate components are converted by a grey-level contrast enhancement technique based on human visual system. Then, inverse Wavelet transform is performed for the converted coefficients so that the enhanced V values are obtained. The S components are enhanced by histogram equalization. The H components are not changed, because changes in the H components could degrade the color balance between the HSV components. The enhanced S and V together with H are converted back to RGB values. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated experimentally.


Abstract. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are the first, but
temporary, substitution products for the strong ozone-depleting
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). HCFC consumption and production are currently
regulated under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer and their emissions have started to stabilize or even decrease. As
HCFC-22 (CHClF2) is by far the most abundant HCFC in today's
atmosphere, it is crucial to continue to monitor the evolution of its
atmospheric concentration. In this study, we describe an improved HCFC-22
retrieval strategy from ground-based high-resolution Fourier transform
infrared (FTIR) solar spectra recorded at the high-altitude scientific
station of Jungfraujoch, the Swiss Alps, 3580 m a.m.s.l. (above mean sea level). This new
strategy distinguishes tropospheric and lower-stratospheric partial columns.
Comparisons with independent datasets, such as the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases
Experiment (AGAGE) and the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric
Sounding (MIPAS), supported by models, such as the Belgian Assimilation System for
Chemical ObErvation (BASCOE) and the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate
Model (WACCM), demonstrate the validity of our tropospheric and lower-stratospheric long-term time series. A trend analysis on the datasets used
here, now spanning 30 years, confirms the last decade's decline in
the HCFC-22 growth rate. This updated retrieval strategy can be adapted for
other ozone-depleting substances (ODSs), such as CFC-12. Measuring or
retrieving ODS atmospheric concentrations is essential for scrutinizing the
fulfilment of the globally ratified Montreal Protocol.


This paper, presents first, using Polya's theorem of enumeration of distinct structures, the number of closed plane five-link kinematics chains. These chains differ among them by the number and the position of revolute and prismatic joints. From these chains, by interchanging the link connected to the frame, may be obtained different mechanisms with 2 degrees of freedom. Forward, it is presented the design with CATIA software of some mechanisms with five elements, with applicability in robotics. These may represent the mechanical structure of some manipulators for graving, inscription and other work. Also, they may be used in the design of a robot arm, with more degrees of freedom such as SCARA robots.


Topic of discussions over the last decades, the literature related to the care of patients suffering from poly-trauma, under the assistance point of view, is sufficiently consolidated concerning to the adoption of best practices, what, usually are conducted and disseminated by accrediting organizations. However, expanding the search frontier beyond the assistance dimension, it's noticed the divergences between the recent researches or theoretical shortcomings regarding to the design and management of these operations. In face of this finding, noticed from a literature review in the most important bases of operations management and health, it's adopted a conceptual model which covers relevant elements of the project of an operation, such as: strategy, capacity, human resources, incentive systems, organizational structure and decision making; in order to systematize the current stage of the field, highlighting the differences between recent studies and proposing a set of practices and premises, which are necessary for the operationalization of the proposed model.


Main clinical and scientific aspects of methodology how to choose the right sample for testing to be involved in Plasma for Laboratory Diagnostics chapter as plasma is in use sufficiently widely. Different approach by clinical and research laboratories formed the necessity to discuss the basic laboratory terms and conditions to obtain correct results. Evaluation of preanalytical variables with impact on handling, processing and storage of samples with subsequent meaning for laboratory test results should be known by physicians, biomedical scientists, laboratory technicians and so on. The impact of chemical additives for diagnostics tools, the differences between plasma and serum samples for different laboratory tests and the subsequent analysis, manage - ment and traceability of specimens with standardisation value should be taken into account.


The histological material of 158 Billroth II gastrectomy specimens, used for a former study that established a relationship between duodenal ulcers and the presence of gastric metaplastic epithelium in the duodenal bulb, was reinvestigated for the presence of Helicobacter pylori. The results show that in all duodenal ulcer patients with gastric mucin cell metaplasia H. pylori colonized the metaplastic epithelium accompanied by an inflammatory response. The intestinal mucosa was always negative for H. pylori. H. pylori‐positive patients also had the micro‐organism in their gastric antrum. The results further support the hypothesis that infection of gastric mucosa in the bulb by H. pylori underlies duodenal ulcer disease.


In a graph, a k-plex is a vertex set in which every vertex is not adjacent to at most k vertices of this set. The maximum k-plex problem, which asks for the largest k-plex from the given graph, is a key primitive in a variety of real-world applications like community detection and so on. In the paper, we develop an exact algorithm, Maplex, for solving this problem in real world graphs practically. Based on the existing first-order and the novel second-order reduction rules, we design a powerful preprocessing method which efficiently removes redundant vertices and edges for Maplex. Also, the graph color heuristic is widely used for overestimating the maximum clique of a graph. For the first time, we generalize this technique for bounding the size of maximum k-plex in Maplex. Experiments are carried out to compare our algorithm with other state-of-the-art solvers on a wide range of publicly available graphs. Maplex outperforms all other algorithms on large real world graphs and is competitive with existing solvers on artificial dense graphs. Finally, we shed light on the effectiveness of each key component of Maplex.


The blades of an offshore wind turbine are prone to be adhered with salt fog after long-time exposure in the marine-atmosphere environment, and salt fog reduces the efficiency of the lightning protection system. In order to study the influence of salt fog on lightning striking probability (LSP), the lightning discharge process model for the wind turbine blade is adopted in this paper considering the accumulation mechanism of surface charges around the salt fog area. The distribution of potential and electric field with the development of the downward leader is calculated by COMSOL Multiphysics LiveLink for MATLAB. A quantitative characterization method is established to calculate the LSP base on the average electric field before the return stroke and the LSP distribution of the blade is shown in the form of a graphic view. The simulation results indicate that the receptor and conductor area close to the receptor area are more likely to get struck by lightning, and the LSP increases under the influence of salt fog. The validity of the model is verified by experiments. Furthermore, the receptor can protect the blade from lightning strikes effectively when the lateral distance between the rod electrode and receptor is short. The influence of salt fog on LSP is more obvious if salt fog is close to the receptor or if the scope of salt fog area increases.


New analogues of ( Z )-dodec-8-en-1-yl acetate ( Z 8-12:OAc, 1 ), the main sex pheromone component of the Oriental fruit moth, Cydia molesta , were designed by formally transferring the terminal propyl group from the C-9 to the C-7 position to form vinyl-branched ( 2 , 3 ) or, after isomerization, ethylidene-branched ( 4 ) structures and by replacing the -CH=CH- grouping by the -S-CH 2 - moiety ( 5 , 6 ). Their biological activities were studied both electrophysiologically and behaviourally (laboratory mating and wind tunnel experiments). All the structural modifications resulted in analogues whose electroantennographic activities were lower than that of 1 following the order 1 >> 6 ≈ 5 >> 2 ≈ 4 ≈ 3 . The single sensillum recording activities indicated that all the analogues stimulate the same Z8-12:OAc receptor neurone. In behavioural experiments, the analogues were generally found to reduce the ability of males to find a pheromone source, however, to different degrees. The highest inhibitory effect (90%) was observed for the thia analogues 5 and 6 . The results support the view that the inhibitory properties of the analogues should not be entirely associated with their pheromone-mimicking capabilities.


Zinc is an essential trace element, making it crucial to have a reliable biomarker for evaluating an individual's zinc status. The total serum zinc concentration, which is presently the most commonly used biomarker, is not ideal for this purpose, but a superior alternative is still missing. The free zinc concentration, which describes the fraction of zinc that is only loosely bound and easily exchangeable, has been proposed for this purpose, as it reflects the highly bioavailable part of serum zinc. This report presents a fluorescence-based method for determining the free zinc concentration in human serum samples, using the fluorescent probe Zinpyr-1. The assay has been applied on 154 commercially obtained human serum samples. Measured free zinc concentrations ranged from 0.09 to 0.42 nM with a mean of 0.22 ± 0.05 nM. It did not correlate with age or the total serum concentrations of zinc, manganese, iron or selenium. A negative correlation between the concentration of free zinc and total copper has been seen for sera from females. In addition, the free zinc concentration in sera from females (0.21 ± 0.05 nM) was significantly lower than in males (0.23 ± 0.06 nM). The assay uses a sample volume of less than 10 µL, is rapid and cost-effective and allows us to address questions regarding factors influencing the free serum zinc concentration, its connection with the body's zinc status, and its suitability as a future biomarker for an individual's zinc status.


Recently, it has been demonstrated that leptin, the product of the ob gene, playing a key role in the regulation of body weight, is angiogenic in vitro and in vivo. In this study we investigated the angiogenic potential of human leptin in vivo by using the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay, with the aim to establish whether this angiogenic activity is partly dependent on endogenous fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), which is normally expressed during CAM development. Results showed that leptin is able to stimulate angiogenesis and that the angiogenic response is similar to that obtained with FGF-2. The stimulating property of leptin is specific, as the application of anti-leptin antibodies onto the CAM significantly inhibits the angiogenic response. Moreover, this angiogenic activity is in part due to the activation of endogenous FGF-2. The application of anti-FGF-2 antibodies reduces the angiogenic response to leptin by 40%. Our study confirms that leptin is angiogenic in vivo and suggests that, at least in the chick CAM, its activity is in part mediated by the activation of endogenous FGF-2.


This paper describes an efficient watermarking technique for use to protect fingerprint images. The rationale is to embed the watermarks into the ridges area of the fingerprint images so that the technique is inherently robust, yields imperceptible watermarks, and resists well against cropping and/or segmentation attacks. The proposed technique improves the performance of optimum multibit watermark decoding, based on the maximum likelihood scheme and the statistical properties of the host data. The technique has been applied successfully on the well-known transform domains: discrete cosine transform (DCT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT). The statistical properties of the coefficients from the two transforms are modeled by a generalized Gaussian model, widely adopted in the literature. The results obtained are very attractive and clearly show significant improvements when compared to the conventional technique, which operates on the whole image. Also, the results suggest that the segmentation (cropping) attack does not affect the performance of the proposed technique, which also provides more robustness against other common attacks.


Barium titanate (BaTiO3, BT) – bismuth titanate magnesium oxide (Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3, BMT) solid solution system ceramics were prepared by conventional sintering method in pursuit of the enhancement of the BT Curie temperature (TC, 132 °C). Normal ferroelectric polarization vs. electric-field (P-E) hysteresis loops were observed for BT-BMT ceramics with BMT contents below 20 and above 60 molar%. On the other hand, broad P-E double hysteresis loops were observed for BMT contents from 30 to 50 molar%. The origin was investigated using synchrotron XRD measurement and Rietveld analysis. The crystal structure was assigned to ferroelectric phase with domain-pinning by certain defect structures. A modified phase diagram was proposed on the basis of the temperature dependence of the crystal structure.


Objectives: A study was undertaken to determine whether benefits gained by providing small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) from age 6–12 months were maintained at age 18 months compared with a delayed intervention. Design: Children who completed a randomised controlled trial were enrolled at age 12 months (n = 392) and followed-up until age 18 months (n = 252; dropout rate 35.7%). Two previously exposed (PE and PE-plus) groups (received SQ-LNS from 6–12 months, but no supplement from 12–18 months) were compared with the delayed intervention (DI) group (received no supplement from 6–12 months, but received SQ-LNS from 12–18 months). Methods and outcome measures: At age 12 and 18 months, weight, length, haemoglobin (Hb) and psychomotor development were measured. Setting: The study was carried out in peri-urban Jouberton area, Klerksdorp, South Africa. Subjects: Children aged 12–18 months. Results: Compared with DI, negative effects (either a trend or statistically significant) were observed for PE and PE-plus for length-for-age Z-scores (LAZ) (p = 0.091 and p = 0.075, respectively), PE-plus for weight-for-age Z-scores (WAZ) (p = 0.027), and PE and PE-plus for Hb (p = 0.080 and p = 0.033, respectively); and a positive effect for PE-plus for eye–hand coordination (p = 0.086). The odds for anaemia were higher for PE-plus compared with DI (OR = 1.68; 95% CI 0.91, 3.09). Regardless of group, prevalence of anaemia and stunting increased from age 12 to age 18 months. Conclusions Benefits of providing SQ-LNS from age 6–12 months were not sustained at age 18 months, compared with providing SQ-LNS from age 12–18 months. Studies to determine the optimum supplementary period to achieve sustainable benefits of SQ-LNS on linear growth and iron status are warranted.


Use of adaptive simulation is intended to improve the fidelity and robustness of important core attribute predictions such as core power distribution, thermal margins, and core reactivity. Adaptive simulation utilizes a selected set of past and current reactor measurements of reactor observables, i.e., in-core instrumentation readings, to adapt the simulation in a meaningful way. The companion paper, "Adaptive Core Simulation Employing Discrete Inverse Theory - Part I: Theory," describes in detail the theoretical background of the proposed adaptive techniques. This paper, Part II, demonstrates several computational experiments conducted to assess the fidelity and robustness of the proposed techniques. The intent is to check the ability of the adapted core simulator model to predict future core observables that are not included in the adaption or core observables that are recorded at core conditions that differ from those at which adaption is completed. Also, this paper demonstrates successful utilization of an efficient sensitivity analysis approach to calculate the sensitivity information required to perform the adaption for millions of input core parameters. Finally, this paper illustrates a useful application for adaptive simulation - reducing the inconsistencies between two different core simulator code systems, where the multitudes of input data to one code are adjusted to enhance the agreement between both codes for important core attributes, i.e., core reactivity and power distribution. Also demonstrated is the robustness of such an application.


Support vector machines have been gaining popularity in the research community of pattern classification. In this paper, we investigate efficient and effective algorithms for training SVMs on large data collections. We decompose SVM learning problem into two stages. At the first stage we developed an algorithm that uses a sequence of small subsets of training data to select the parameters /spl gamma/ and C. At the second stage, we developed an algorithm that generates a reliable set of support vectors using a small subset of the training data. Experiments are conducted on about 850K data samples for automotive engine misfire detection.


Thirty train drivers with erectile dysfunction (ED) and arterial hypertension were examined : physical examination, blood count, urinalysis, penile laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). ED severity was assessed by Loran-Segal questionnaire of male copulative function (MCF) and international index of erectile function (IIEF). Zidena was used in a dose 100 mg 30 min before coitus twice a weak. Examinations have detected mild and moderate ED, spastic disorders of penile microcirculation. MCF significant improvement (p < 0.05), rise of IIEF score were seen after 30 days of zidena treatment. A positive trend was observed after 15 days of treatment. LDF registered a significant (p < 0.05) improvement of microcirculation. Tissue hypoxia and ischemia lowered, blood inflow in the system of microcirculation increased. A passive mechanism of blood flow regulation, vasodilation almost corresponded to physiological standards. Administration of zidena in patients with stress-induced hypertension has improved libido, quality and duration of erection, penile microcirculation due to better tissue perfusion with blood, reduction of ischemia and blood congestion in the venules. Duration of coitus increased.


This research investigates distributed clustering scheme and proposes a cluster-based routing protocol for Delay-Tolerant Mobile Networks (DTMNs). The basic idea is to distributively group mobile nodes with similar mobility pattern into a cluster, which can then interchangeably share their resources (such as buffer space) for overhead reduction and load balancing, aiming to achieve efficient and scalable routing in DTMN. Due to the lack of continuous communications among mobile nodes and possible errors in the estimation of nodal contact probability, convergence and stability become major challenges in distributed clustering in DTMN. To this end, an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) scheme is employed for on-line updating nodal contact probability, with its mean proven to converge to the true contact probability. Based on nodal contact probabilities, a set of functions including Sync(), Leave(), and Join() are devised for cluster formation and gateway selection. Finally, the gateway nodes exchange network information and perform routing. Extensive simulations are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed cluster-based routing protocol. The simulation results show that it achieves higher delivery ratio and significantly lower overhead and end-to-end delay compared with its non-clustering counterpart.


This synthesis describes the state of the practice for involving advisory committees in transit planning and operations, exploring the experiences from a few agencies in detail. The purpose of this report is to provide practitioners with guidance about how their colleagues across the country are involving advisory committees and ideas for how to structure successful advisory committees. This synthesis is based on the results from survey responses received from transit agencies and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in 46 states and the District of Columbia. More than 80% of respondents indicated that they had involved an advisory committee in the past 3 years. Additionally, two transit agencies and three MPOs were selected for case studies to highlight their successful practices for committees with different structures and authority levels providing input on different kinds of agency and MPO activities.


Teacher librarians need to be at the forefront of curriculum change within their schools. They must be leaders in this change. In their role as information specialists they are well placed to facilitate the shift to a critical thinking, ICT and personal learning framework such as that required by the new Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). How do they do this? One avenue is the running of staff professional development sessions. The topics need to be varied and broad; the focus must always be on teaching and learning. Engaged teachers who are confident in their own learning will more easily develop a learning culture and be more prepared to let go of a content-focused curriculum for one which is flexible and allows for student input. Through input comes engagement for both teachers and students and for teacher librarians.


It is generally accepted that conventional clinic blood pressure measurement can offer a limited amount of information necessary in the adequate management of hypertension and in practice it should move towards ambulatory blood pressure measurement in order to obtain additional information that would help in the correct diagnosis and management of hypertension. The methods available for the ambulatory blood pressure measurement are the ambulatory monitoring and the home blood pressure monitoring. The usage of the device for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring should be included in general practice. Hypertension is a major risk factor in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, which is why a new approach method is required in primary care that will focus on screening and therapeutic control by using ambulatory blood pressure measurement.


Lampbrush chromosomes (LBCs) represent a new model in avian cytogenetics and are increasingly more often used in poultry chromosome analyses. Additionally, lampbrush chromosomes are considered as model structures in the study of transcription regulation. Changes in transcription activity are reflected as modifications of LBC morphological structure and associated with physiological processes in the organism. The aim of the present study was to compare transcriptional activity of the first five lampbrush macrochromosomes and ZW sex lampbrush bivalents sampled from the oocytes of geese prior to and after the reproductive period. The respective bivalents sampled before and after reproduction have similar sizes but differ in morphological structure. Side loops of lampbrush chromosomes are sites of transcription activity. The activity varies according to the loop size. As the loops become more prominent, the activity grows and vice versa. Lampbrush chromosomes sampled after reproduction have smaller side loops. On the other hand, inactive chromomeres become prominent in the chromosomes. Marker loops are the last structures to be degraded after the end of reproduction. Consequently, they are used for identifying particular bivalents at different stages of cellular transcriptional activity.


Skin cancers are increasing as the population ages. Basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas are the most commonly occurring lesions. The frozen section techniques and Mohs' techniques are considered to be the gold standard of treatment of periocular carcinomas. Strategies for treatment of these lesions as well as reconstruction of full-thickness eyelid defects and partial-thickness skin defects are discussed.


OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to review and characterise the clinical presentation of young boxer dogs with chronic kidney disease referred to the authors' institutions. METHODS: Records were collected retrospectively from 37 boxer dogs, less than five years of age, which had presented with azotaemia, inappropriately low urine concentrating ability, and ultrasound or radiographic evidence of abnormal kidneys. RESULTS: Clinicopathological findings included azotaemia, hyperphosphataemia, anaemia, isosthenuria and proteinuria. Ultrasonographic findings included hyperechoic renal cortices, loss of corticomedullary junction definition, dilated pelves and irregularly shaped small kidneys. Renal histopathological findings included pericapsular and interstitial fibrosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, dilated tubules, sclerotic glomeruli and dystrophic calcification. Survival time of the dogs varied from zero to over five years after diagnosis. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This paper documents features of the presentation and progression of juvenile nephropathy in boxer dogs. While juvenile nephropathy has been reported in individual cases of boxer dogs previously, this is the first reported case series.


Background: Since esophageal cancer is highly prevalent, and has a high cost for patients and society, this study aimed to investigate the result of surgery in esophageal cancer with esophagogastrostomy method to lower the problems of these patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all patients who were diagnosed with esophageal and upper gastric cancer with surgical indications during 2004 to 2011 in Shahid Beheshti hospital, Babol City, Iran, participated. Patients then underwent esophagogastrostomy surgery. Patients' data were gathered using a survey and analyzed using t and chisquare tests via SPSS software. A P-value of less than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Results: A total of 47 patients who were confirmed as having esophageal cancer by pathologic evaluation, were investigated. A significant relationship was observed between body mass index and complications after surgery (P = 0.04). 57.1% of underweight patients and 100% of obese patients experienced complications. No significant relationship was seen in other factors. The average age of patients who experienced complications was higher than those who reported no complications, and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.03). Moreover, the duration of surgery was significantly higher in patients with complications (P = 0.01). Conclusions: It would seem that complications after surgery were higher in underweight patients and the duration of surgery was higher in these patients. No significant relationship was seen in other factors. © 2018 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved. Citation: Akbarnataj-Baboli HA, Noorbaran A, Naghshineh A, Shekarchi B, Asghari Y, Kamali-Ahangar S, et al. The Outcomes of Left Thoracotomy and Esophagogastrostomy Method in Patients with Esophageal Cancer in Babol City, Northern Iran (2004-2011). Acad J Surg, 2018; 5(1-2): 7-11.


Well-being is mostly defined and measured in terms of life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect in psychology. As human well-being depends on need satisfaction, and many of our needs as humans are satisfied with and by other people, it is argued in this chapter that the current conceptualization and measurement of well-being is inadequate. Specifically, although there are some expectations, psychological research on well-being has largely neglected the social aspects or the context of well-being. It is thus argued that in order to understand the social nature of well-being several dimensions have to be considered. The proposed dimensions are social integration, social acceptance, social contribution, social actualization, and social coherence. Results from a validation study provide tentative empirical support for the proposed conceptual structure.


The purpose of the activity described here is help students apply course concepts to a 'real-world' issue, understand how to develop a specific research study from a general topic, and become more critical consumers of information. The activity required students to critically analyse claims about a new method of parenting presented in a TV news magazine show. Quantitative and qualitative data gathered from students indicate that they found the exercises interesting and useful in helping them both understand and apply concepts they learned in their developmental psychology research methods course.


The first chapter of the thesis summarizes briefly the theoretical treatment of orbital electron capture. Particular attention is given to the theoretically-obtained wave function ratios which are available for comparison with experimental values. It is pointed out that, when calculating values of atomic electron wave functions, it is customary not to consider the correlations which must exist among the atomic electrons, and that when such correlations are considered, the theoretical values for L/K-ratios are increased over those obtained from the use of hydrogen-like functions. A comparison of theoretical and experimental values of L/K-ratios is made and it is shown that further experimental work is required in all ranges of atomic number. In particular, the range of atomic number between 15 and 40 is shown to be suitable for investigation. The second chapter describes the characteristics required in the detection system and outlines the wall-less counter technique used by the author. The experimental work is described in the next four chapters. Measurements of L/K-ratios in the isotopes germanium-71, krypton-79, chlorine-36 and argon-37 are described, together with Incidental points of counter technique which were clarified in the course of the measurements. The values of 0.116 +/- 0.005, 0.108 +/- 0.005, 0.112 +/- 0.008 and 0.102 +/- 0.004, obtained for the L/K-ratios in these isotopes, are greater than the respective theoretical values of 0.106, 0.101, 0.080 and 0.082 calculated from the ratios of wave functions prepared by Brysk and Rose. The difference between theory and experiment is most marked for isotopes of small atomic number. This is in accord with the predictions of Odiot and Daudel, who evaluated the effect of the electron correlations in light isotopes. Their value of 0.100 for the L/K-ratio in argon-37 is in good agreement with that obtained in the present work. Capture from the M-shell was detected in germanium-71 and krypton-79, the first direct observation of capture from this shell in isotopes with mass number less than 200. The values of the ratio of M-capture to L-capture in both isotopes was found to be 0.16 +/- 0.08, in reasonable agreement with the ratios of electron density given by Hartree wave functions. Indications that M-capture occurred also in chlorine-36 and argon-37 were observed, but the evidence cannot be considered to be conclusive. The final chapter of the thesis summarizes the above results and, after comparison of the available theoretical and experimental values of L/K-ratios, concludes that further theoretical work to evaluate the magnitude of the electron correlations as a function of atomic number is necessary. There are four appendices. The first contains analytical forms of the wave functions of an electron in the Coulomb field of a point charge, while the second gives some details about the counters used in the measurements. In the third, are some brief remarks about the new electronic units added in the course of the measurements. The fourth discusses measurements undertaken to establish the presence of a positron branch in the decay of chlorine-36. It is shown that the observations are consistent with the existence of a weak branching, of intensity K/beta+ = 1500 +/- 300 500 relative the X-capture component of the source.


Over the last 10 years the video Head Impulse Test has become the generally accepted initial test vestibular function to be done in patients presenting with vertigo or imbalance. vHIT can give reliable reproducible measurements of the function of each of the 6 semicircular canals individually, in any reasonably cooperative adult or child in about 15 minutes. There are published normative values and the test can be particularly useful in diagnosing: (1) acute unilateral peripheral vestibulopathy (i.e. vestibular neuritis) and differentiating it from cerebellar infarction; and (2) chronic bilateral vestibular vestibulopathy and differentiating if from the many other causes of persistent imbalance. Here we review the basic physiological principles behind the Head Impulse test and some of the benefits and potential practical problems in video Head Impulse Testing.


Most rocks, minerals, and sands show strong infrared reflection bands. In the atmospheric window (8 to 12�), quartz and feldspar show an emissivity near 0.8, calcite near 1.0. These laboratory data are confirmed from observations during a Tiros flight over the Libyan desert. The Mediterranean Sea was used for calibration. Desert emissivity is between 0.7 and 0.9


Purpose Pediatric brain tumor patients often experience significant cognitive sequelae. Resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) provides a measure of brain network organization, and we hypothesize that pediatric brain tumor patients treated with proton therapy will demonstrate abnormal brain network architecture related to cognitive outcome and radiation dosimetry. Participants and Methods Pediatric brain tumor patients treated with proton therapy were enrolled on a prospective study of cognitive assessment using the NIH Toolbox Cognitive Domain. rsfMRI was obtained in participants able to complete unsedated MRI. Brain system segregation (BSS), a measure of brain network architecture, was calculated for the whole brain, the high-level cognition association systems, and the sensory-motor systems. Results Twenty-six participants were enrolled in the study for cognitive assessment, and 18 completed rsfMRI. There were baseline cognitive deficits in attention and inhibition and processing speed prior to radiation with worsening performance over time in multiple domains. Average BSS across the whole brain was significantly decreased in participants compared with healthy controls (1.089 and 1.101, respectively; P = 0.001). Average segregation of association systems was significantly lower in participants than in controls (P < 0.001) while there was no difference in the sensory motor networks (P = 0.70). Right hippocampus dose was associated with worse attention and inhibition (P < 0.05) and decreased segregation in the dorsal attention network (P < 0.05). Conclusion Higher mean dose to the right hippocampus correlated with worse dorsal attention network segregation and worse attention and inhibition cognitive performance. Patients demonstrated alterations in brain network organization of association systems measured with rsfMRI; however, somatosensory system segregation was no different from healthy children. Further work with preradiation rsfMRI is needed to assess the effects of surgery and presence of a tumor on brain network architecture.


The catalytic asymmetric addition of organic nucleophiles to alpha-imino esters has emerged as one of the most promising and intensely investigated routes to optically enriched alpha- and beta-amino acid derivatives and beta-lactams. The importance of alpha-imino esters stems not only from the vast appeal of the potential product classes,(1) but also from their remarkable reactivity as highly electrophilic imines. With each passing year, the number of publications concerning the asymmetric alkylation of imino esters grows significantly. The asymmetric alkylation of imines(2) and N,O-acetals has been in itself a subject of intense interest.(3) In this Account, we wish to illustrate our contribution to this timely field, as well as to highlight the seminal contributions of others.


Over the last several years, a great level of interest has rallied behind understanding how the pivotal kinase, 3'-phosphoinositide dependent kinase 1 (PDK1) is regulated. PDK1 phosphorylates and activates members of the AGC kinase family shown to be activated downstream of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (P13K); however, the functional dependency of PDK1 on P13K for activation of its targets is less clear. The P13K signaling pathway mediates numerous cellular responses upon growth factor and hormone stimulation. Specifically, P13K signaling influences many of the metabolic and mitogenic functions of the anabolic hormone, insulin. Thus, the regulation of P13K and its downstream targets by insulin has become an important topic for investigation. Given its central role as the kinase upstream of those signaling pathways linked to P13K, the regulation of PDK1 by insulin and other factors is at the height of many of these investigations. Current theories on PDK1 regulation propose substrate conformation and subcellular localization as the primary mediators of PDK1 function. The array of PDK1 substrates suggests, however, that in cells PDK1 may be more tightly regulated. Recent data support phosphorylation as a potential regulatory mechanism that may play an additional role in directing the specificity of PDK1 towards its physiological substrates. The combination of these regulatory mechanisms along with the potential for multiple PDK1 isoforms with select tissue distribution may contribute to the diversified actions of insulin signaling. The targeting of these various aspects of PDK1 regulation may provide for novel therapeutic treatments for diseases such as diabetes and cancer.


High irradiance of a curing unit with continuous lighting is associated with high output temperature that could lead to high pulp chamber temperature. The pulse-lighting mode has been studied as an alternative to the continuous lighting. The aim of our study was to analyze the influence of the lighting modes of the light curing unit on the dental pulp chamber temperature of extracted teeth. We constructed an experimental unit, with different irradiances with light exposure times of 10 and 20 sec; the output temperature and irradiances were measured. The irradiances were used to polymerize resin composites restored in teeth with different light exposure times. Then, the temperature of the dental pulp chamber were determined, whereas, the temperature of the dental pulp without light exposure was used as baseline. A commercially available curing unit that was checked to have continuous-lighting mode with an irradiance of 900 mW/cm2 and is operated only in 20 sec was employed for comparison with the pulsed lighting mode curing unit. We found that the output light and pulp-chamber temperatures of the pulse-lighting curing unit were significantly lower than those observed for a continuous-lighting curing unit. With respect to the pulsed-lighting curing unit, the output-light temperatures associated with the irradiance levels of 900 in 20 sec and 1,000 mW/cm2 in 10 or 20 sec showed significant differences. The pulp-chamber temperature decreased during resin composite polymerization but was still slightly higher than the baseline. When used in vivo, the slight value added to the normal dental pulp chamber temperature value could be higher than the normal temperature of the pulp chamber which could cause problems in dental pulp chamber. Experimental article (J Int Dent Med Res 2019; 12(1): 117-122)


MENDELSON'S syndrome, or peptic-aspiration pneumonia, was first described in obstetrical cases by Mendelson1in 1946. Classically, there is a history of vomiting after inhalation anesthesia, either during the operation or in the early postoperative period. Two to five hours after aspiration there is a dramatic onset of cyanosis, dyspnea, tachycardia, and shock.2Examination of the patient shows no localized signs of lung disease but generalized adventitious sounds and bronchospasm. The condition simulates pulmonary edema with rales, wheezes, and rhonchi throughout both lungs. There is a bloody, frothy sputum and marked pulmonary congestion. A very high pulse and respiratory rate are common, and gross pulmonary edema may supervene, with a rapidly deteriorating course resulting in death from cardiac failure. X-ray of the chest shows soft patchy mottling scattered through the lung fields but no evidence of lung collapse. Postmortem examination of the lungs will show gross swelling of


In this study, the effects of feeding with the diets containing hazelnut meal (HM) at different levels (0%, 15%, 30%, and 45%) on the growth performance and body composition of Siberian sturgeon were investigated. The study was carried out for 90 days with 3 replicates (n = 15; 283.1 ± 6.52 g fish weight). The highest weight gain (180.62 ± 2.84%) was observed in the control group followed by 15%, 30%, and 45% HM. When the groups were evaluated in terms of SGR, FCR, and PER, the control group was observed to have the best performance. The control group and the 15% HM group, which were statistically similar, were found to be different from the other groups (P < 0.05). The statistical difference between the control group and the 45% HM group of HSI values was significant (P < 0.05). CP, CF, and GE values were found to be similar in the control group and 15% HM groups and different from other groups (P < 0.05). Finally, it was concluded that adding 15% HM to the diet would positively affect fish growth in terms of growth performance, ECR, meat quality, and body composition, but considering the economic performance, it is determined that the rate of HM can be increased up to 45%.


Background: We aimed to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise on functional recovery of the murine gastrocnemius muscle and nerve after botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) administration. Methods: After the injection of 0.5 units of BoNT-A into the gastrocnemius muscle of ICR mice, treadmill exercise was conducted for a 6-week period, after which the muscle volume, weight, and sciatic functional index (SFI) was determined and a nerve conduction study (NCS) and histological evaluation were performed. Results: After exercise, there was no change in the gastrocnemius weight and volume, but NCS and SFI increased. Exercise prevented induced adipocyte accumulation and muscle fibrosis. Moreover, transforming growth factor-β1 and α-smooth muscle actin expressions decreased and CD34, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and synaptosomal nerve-associated protein 25 expressions increased when treadmill exercise was performed after BoNT-A administration. Conclusions: Exercise can effectively recover the nerve function and would aid in muscle function recovery by preventing fat cell accumulation and muscle fibrosis after BoNT-A administration.


: This descriptive study investigated the relationship between hope using the Herth Hope Scale and coping using the Jalowiec Coping Scale in 120 adult patients undergoing chemotherapy in hospital, outpatient, and home settings. Also analyzed were length of time since diagnosis, family and job responsibilities, and religious convictions in relation to the level of hope and coping. The study found a significant relationship (p less than 0.05) between level of hope and level of coping among subjects in all three settings. In addition, strength of religious convictions and performance of family role responsibilities were significantly related to the variables of hope and coping regardless of setting. Length of time since diagnosis and performance of job role responsibilities were not significantly related to either the levels of hope or coping.


YULISTIANI, D., W. PUASTUTI, E. WINA dan SUPRIATI. 2012. Effect of processing on nutritive value of corn cobs: Chemical composition and in vitro digestibility. JITV 17(1): 59-66. One of the causes of low productivity of ruminants in Indonesia is the lack of continual availability of high quality feed. Agriculture by-product such as corn cob is potential to be used as roughage for ruminants. However its nutrient quality is low; therefore, processing needs to be done to increase its nutrient quality. The objective of the study was to obtain technology which able to increase the nutritive value of corn corb. Corn cobs were ground to obtain corn grain size and then treated with one of six treatments. These treatments were (1). Urea treatment at the level 3% of DM corn cob, (2). Fermentation using Trichoderma viridae; (3). Combination of fermentation using T. viridae and urea at the level 0.5% DM, (4). Fermentation using Aspergilus niger, (5). Fermentation using A. niger and urea at the level of 0.5% DM and (6). Ensiling of corn cob. All treated samples were dried in an oven then were ground for chemical analyses and in vitro digestibility. The study was done using randomised completely design and the data was analyzed using SAS programe v6.1. Result shows that untreated corn cob had low quality nutritive value which was indicated by its low protein content (2.9%) and low in vitro digestibility (42.5%). All treatments could increase corn cob's protein contents; the highest increase was on urea treatment and fermentation of corn cob using A. niger supplemented with urea (210 and 172% respectively). The in vitro digestibility was only significantly increased by urea treatment where its digestibility was increased by 43%. On the other hand, fermentation using A. niger either with or without urea supplementation increased neutral detergent fibre digestibility by 300% and 200%. In conclusion, nutritive value of a corn cob can be improved by urea treatment at the level of 3% or by fermentation using A. niger.


The ultrastructure of L cells and immune macrophages was studied at various intervals during their in vitro interaction, which leads to mutual cell destruction. When immune macrophages were added to a monolayer of L cells, they rapidly adhered to the L cells and the adherence persisted. Electron microscopic observations during the first 3 hours showed numerous contacts between immune macrophages and target L cells in which the plasma membrane of each cell remained intact, and no obvious degenerative changes were seen. However, slender protuberances of L cell cytoplasm extended into surface invaginations of the macrophage. Electron microscopic evidence suggested that these protuberances may be pinched off and engulfed by the macrophage. Degenerative changes were seldom observed prior to complete loss of cellular integrity. The occasional manifestations of degeneration included: disruption of polysomes and the random dispersion of ribosomes, patchy degeneration within the cytoplasm, and formation of blebs consisting of large bulbous protrusions of the cell surface.

At 5 hours and later, many cells in an advanced stage of degeneration were seen. These cells often consisted of a degenerate nucleus surrounded by swollen vesicular cytoplasmic components and little or no plasma membrane. The degeneration apparently progresses very rapidly once it has been initiated.

These ultrastructural studies, when considered in the light of other experimental data, suggest that the following sequence of events occurs during the target L cell-immune macrophage reaction in vitro . The first stage consists of the rapid and strong adherence of the immune macrophage to the target cell as the result of the reaction of the cytophilic antibody on the surface of the macrophage and the antigens of the plasma membrane of the L cell. During the second stage, the immune macrophages are exposed to the antigens of the target cell by contact and by phagocytosis of surface protuberances of the target cells. This event may provide a stimulus for the synthesis of a "mediator" for cell destruction by the macrophage, or may act directly to bring about cell destruction.


The objective of the present study was to assess the antibacterial activity of different solvent extracts of Securidaca longependuculata. The methanol, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts of the stem bark of the plant were examined for antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas spp, using the agar well diffusion method while the minimum inhibitory concentration of methanol extract was evaluated using agar dilution method. The extracts were graded into different concentrations of 100mg/ml, 50mg/ml, 25mg/ml and 12.5mg/ml. Results showed that petroleum ether extract had no antibacterial activity while the aqueous extracts showed the most potent activity against Staphylococcus aureus (22.5mm at 100mg/ml) and Salmonella typhi (19mm at 100mg/ml), Escherichia coli (18.5mm at 100mg/ml) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.5 at 100mg/ml). Methanol extract had the second highest activity against the test organisms. The MIC of the methanol extract against the test organisms were 100mg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus and �?100mg/ml for the rest of the organisms tested. The entire evaluations showed that Securidaca longependuculata had antibacterial activity against clinical isolates tested


Semantic web technologies have the potential to extend and transform teaching and learning, particularly in those educational settings in which learners are encouraged to engage with 'authentic' data from multiple sources. In the course of the 'Ensemble' project, teachers and learners in different disciplinary contexts in UK Higher Education worked with educational researchers and technologists to explore the potential of such technologies through participatory design and rapid prototyping. These activities exposed some of the barriers to the development and adoption of emergent learning technologies, but also highlighted the wide range of factors, not all of them technological or pedagogical, that might contribute to enthusiasm for and adoption of such technologies. This suggests that the scope and purpose of research and design activities may need to be broadened and the paper concludes with a discussion of how the tradition of operaismo or 'workers' enquiry' may help to frame such activities. This is particularly relevant in a period when the both educational institutions and the working environments for which learners are being prepared are becoming increasingly fractured, and some measure of 'precarity' is increasingly the norm.


The existence of IPB with a high number of students and residents influences the development of the area. Various businesses emerged to satisfy the needs of students, one of them is warung makan. Warung makan is the one of food waste sources that comes from leftlovers. Food waste can have an impact on the environment, social and economic. This study aims to determine the amount of food waste from warung makan and to determine the efforts to reduce the food waste. This research was conducted in around the campus of IPB Darmaga.  The methodology used SNI 19-3964-1994. The results show that the average of food waste warung makan was 29,413 kg/day. The food waste composition consists of rice, vegetables and side dishes with the largest component was rice about 70% of total food waste. Efforts can be made to reduce the food waste from the side of warung makan was apply the method of serving rice on a buffet basis, campaign about food waste and apply a choice of rice portions.
Keywords : food waste; food waste campaign;  leftlovers;  warung makan


From antebellum slavery to the twenty-first century, African American funeral directors have orchestrated funerals or 'homegoing' ceremonies with dignity and pageantry. As entrepreneurs in a largely segregated trade, they were among the few black individuals in any community who were economically independent and not beholden to the local white power structure. Most important, their financial freedom gave them the ability to support the struggle for civil rights and, indeed, to serve the living as well as bury the dead. During the Jim Crow era, black funeral directors relied on racial segregation to secure their foothold in America's capitalist marketplace. With the dawning of the civil rights age, these entrepreneurs were drawn into the movement to integrate American society, but were also uncertain how racial integration would affect their business success. From the beginning, this tension between personal gain and community service shaped the history of African American funeral directing. For African Americans, death was never simply the end of life, and funerals were not just places to mourn. In the 'hush harbors' of the slave quarters, African Americans first used funerals to bury their dead and to plan a path to freedom. Similarly, throughout the long - and often violent - struggle for racial equality in the twentieth century, funeral directors aided the cause by honoring the dead while supporting the living. "To Serve the Living" offers a fascinating history of how African American funeral directors have been integral to the fight for freedom.


Purpose
Cottage is a protein-rich food which is commonly consumed by people targeting weight reduction and athletes willing to eat whole-food instead of protein supplements. Yet out of common knowledge, the scientific community lacks solid evidences of the effect of the inclusion of cottage cheese in a diet. The purpose of this paper is to assess the evidences from scientific literature of the impact of inclusion of cottage cheese in a diet.

Design/methodology/approach
PubMed and Web of Science were searched for scientific literature dealing with "cottage cheese" and "diet." There was no restriction regarding the type article type, date nor journal it is published in. References found to during the analysis of the articles extracted from database were also included. Studies search, screening and eligibility analysis were led in parallel by two independent reviewers.

Findings
This survey shows that cottage cheese is a good source of calcium (with 83 mg/100 g) – but not low fat cottage cheese because of its low vitamin S content (p < 0.001) –, a source of probiotic (1 serving providing the recommended dietary intake), a source of high quality proteins, reduces postprandial blood glucose level – healthy and type II diabetes subjects – (p < 0.05), is not linked to increased cardiovascular diseases nor cancer risks (p < 0.05).

Originality/value
Based on the findings reported in this review, the inclusion of cottage cheese in a diet can be advised for: women to build up calcium storage to fight osteoporosis; more generally calcium/vitamin D deficient subjects; athletes willing to increase their high-quality proteins intake through whole food consumption; dieters looking for low energy, high protein, high satiety food; untreated type II diabetes patients by reducing postprandial glucose level.


A new segmentation fusion method is proposed that ensembles the output of several segmentation algorithms applied on a remotely sensed image. The candidate segmentation sets are processed to achieve a consensus segmentation using a stochastic optimization algorithm based on the Filtered Stochastic BOEM (Best One Element Move) method. For this purpose, Filtered Stochastic BOEM is reformulated as a segmentation fusion problem by designing a new distance learning approach. The proposed algorithm also embeds the computation of the optimum number of clusters into the segmentation fusion problem.


Abstract. Here we present a very original and indeed radical theory which departs greatly from the physics of the last half century. The standard model has failed to answer some of the most simplest questions of our state in the universe. Like other theories before it, it is time for a radical re-think of the entire direction of our current physical theories. If we keep going along the same old path it will lead no-where , one can only drive a square peg into a round hole for so long. What causes particles to have charge? The force that can cause them to attract each other or repel. It seems a simple question but you can look up all the text books in existence and you will not find the answer. I know as I have tried. The fact is that no-one on this planet has an answer for, what you would think is a simple question that any physicist could answer, but you would be wrong. That is one of the fundamental reasons for this paper. I began to realize that in physics we could not answer the simplest of question regarding our existence yet at the same time physicists claim to be near a theory, the Standard Model that will describe the whole of reality and that they were most of the way there. Of course it cannot be true and until we can answer the question "'what causes charge"' and a host of other simple questions we really cannot back grandiose claims for our level of understanding of our reality. That and other factors inspired me to attempt to write this paper and I hope I can answer the question "'what causes charge"'.


The structure of a human tympanic membrane has been studied with the electron microscope 12 months after implantation. The lamina propria of the epidermis and the connective submucosal layer were thicker in the homograft than in the normal tympanic membrane. Creeping substitution in the fibers of the outer radial and inner circular layers was not observed but cannot be excluded. The protective role of the skin of the external meatus and of the epithelial cells of the mucosal layer has been noted.


In the design of heat exchangers, it is necessary to determine the heat transfer rate between hot and cold fluids in order to calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient and the heat exchanger efficiency. Heat transfer rate can be determined by inverse methods. In this study, the unknown space-time dependent heat flux imposed on the wall of a heat exchanger internal tube is estimated by applying an inverse method and simulated temperature measurements at the specified points in the flow field. It is supposed that no prior information is available on the variation of the unknown heat flux function. Variable metric method which belongs to the function estimation approach is utilized to predicate the unknown function by minimizing an objective function. Four versions of the presented inverse method, named DFP, BFGS, SR1, and Biggs, are used to solve the problem and the results obtained by each version are compared. The estimation of the heat flux depends on the location of the sensor and the uncertainties associated with temperature measurements. The influence of each factor is investigated in this paper. Results show that variable metric method is a rapid and precise technique for estimating unknown boundary conditions in inverse heat convection problems.


This paper presents a reflective analysis of a novel approach to Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to teach abstract concepts in a large-class setting, specifically tailored for a third-year required undergraduate course, "Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering." The primary objective is to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes by employing forensic case studies-based learning, also known as murder mysteries. This unique adaptation of PBL offers a fresh perspective on teaching abstract concepts by introducing real-world engineering failures relevant to the topic. Students then identify potential reasons for failure, rank them, and cooperatively explore them. By progressing from the known to the unknown, students develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles they later encounter. by progressing from the known to the unknown This approach overcomes the limitations of traditional teaching methods that introduce abstract concepts before presenting real-world examples. The murder mysteries capture students' attention and interest, allowing them to experience the process of doing real-world engineering. Consequently, the course rating improved significantly, achieving the highest score in the last twenty years - 4.9 out of 5.0, well above the average course rating of 3.8 during the same period. The paper delves into the background, methodology, challenges, and reflections on implementing and evaluating this engaging and effective PBL adaptation in a large-class setting for teaching abstract concepts in engineering.


The mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor subunit is a basic protein of 84 amino acids that helps to regulate the activity of F1F0-ATPase. In order to obtain structural information on the mechanism of inhibition, the bovine inhibitor subunit has been expressed in Escherichia coli and purified in high yield. The recombinant protein has a similar inhibitory activity to the inhibitor subunit isolated from bovine mitochondria. Progressive N-terminal and C-terminal deletion mutants of the inhibitor subunit have been produced either by overexpression and purification, or by chemical synthesis. By assaying the truncated proteins for inhibitory activity, the minimal inhibitory sequence of the inhibitor subunit has been defined as consisting of residues 14-47. The immediately adjacent sequences 10-13 and 48-56 help to stabilize the complex between F1F0-ATPase and the inhibitor protein, and residues 1-9 and 57-84 appear to be dispensable. At physiological pH values, the inhibitor subunit is mainly alpha-helical and forms monodisperse aggregates in solution. Smaller inhibitory fragments of the inhibitor protein, such as residues 10-50, seem to have a mainly random coil structure in solution, but they can adopt the correct inhibitory conformation when they from a complex with the ATPase. However, these latter fragments are mainly monomeric in solution, suggesting that the aggregation of the inhibitor subunit in solution may be due to intermolecular alpha-helical coiled-coil formation via the C-terminal region. The noninhibitory peptides consisting of residues 10-40 and 23-84 of the inhibitor protein can bind to F1F0-ATPase, and interfere with inhibition by the intact inhibitor subunit. The noninhibitory fragments of the inhibitor protein consisting of residues 22-46 and 44-84 do not compete with the inhibitor subunit for its binding site on F1F0-ATPase.


Cross-language research poses many challenges. When researchers and participants do not speak the same language, meanings expressed by participants might not be understood in the same way by researchers, and the richness of participants' experiences might be lost. This can lead to the misrepresentation and silencing of issues faced by these participants, especially newcomers. In this article, we critically examine our experience conducting qualitative interviews with injured immigrant workers with the help of professional interpreters. Using examples from our field notes and transcripts, we outline some of the key difficulties we faced: varying styles of interpretation, breeches of interview conventions, and miscommunications with interpreters. We discuss how these issues affected our study design, rapport with participants and, ultimately, data quality. We end with a discussion of how to improve cross-language and cross-cultural research.


This paper constructs a dyadic non-subsampled Contourlet transform for denoising on the image. The transformation has more directional subband, using the non-subsampled filter group for decompositing of direction, so it has the translation invariance, eliminated image distortion from Contourlet transform's lack of translation invariance. Non-subsampled filter reduces noise interference and data redundancy. Using the feature of NSCT translation invariance, multiresolution, multidirection, and can according to the energy of NSCT in all directions and in all scale, adaptive denoising threshold. Experimental results show that compared to wavelet denoising and traditional Contourlet denoising, the method achieves a higher PSNR value, while preserving image edge details, can effectively reduce the Gibbs distortion, improve visual images.


Abstract This paper focuses on the logic of categorization of three Chinese « encyclopedias » (leishu 類書), and the influence the categories have on the texts they contain. The choices made by the compilers are in fact not always easy to understand, and are indeed often quite subjective, which leads to think that leishu may not always prove reliable when used for research on specific topics. In order to exemplify this idea, I present here the case of a short narrative which can be found in three different leishu, namely the Yiwen leiju, the Taiping guangji and the Taiping yulan. Despite the text's different versions being roughly the same, I argue that its meaning is modified by the way it is categorized in each of these books. By their choices, the compilers therefore influence our perception of the writings found in leishu, which are one of our most important sources concerning ancient Chinese literature.


The Elizabethan music partbooks of Robert Dow, Fellow of All Souls, are notable not only for their elegant calligraphy but also for their inclusion of Latin inscriptions that offer praise for particular composers or comment on the nature of music. Debates surrounding these partbooks have focused on the extent to which they may, or may not, reflect Catholic sympathies on the part of Dow, but this is not the subject of Dow's Latin inscriptions. More apparent is the contribution that these partbooks make to debates regarding the virtues and vices of music-making, a topic that was a particular preoccupation in Oxford circles during the 1580s, just as Dow was copying. Analysing the connection between the inscriptions that draw on myths and commonplaces regarding the powers of music and the motets that they accompany, I argue that these juxtapositions reveal Dow's deep awareness of the issues and rhetoric deployed by recent authors in praise of music. Rather than projecting Catholic sympathies, Dow more obviously presented himself as a defender of music, and his thoughtfully placed inscriptions invited users of these books to reflect on music's role in pious living, good health and honest social pleasures, while also insinuating the unnaturalness and ungodliness of music's critics.


Abstract : This report presents the initial analysis of a polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data set that was acquired during the Oct. 2005 Maritime Sensor Integration Experiment (MARSIE). MARSIE, as part of a larger TTCP activity, was designed to explore the benefits of sensor fusion to solve the target detection and tracking problem. The MARSIE trial was conducted off the East Coast of Canada and brought many sensors to bear on a set of known ship targets that were engaged in a simulated maritime incursion scenario. The Environment Canada CV-580 polarimetric SAR was used as a proxy sensor for RADARSAT-2 polarimetry. MARSIE polarimetry results include observations of ship target radar cross section for co-polarization and cross-polarization channels, the reduction in the probability of missed detection for polarimetric relative to single channel radar operation, and the potential benefit of polarimetric target decomposition to generate ship target classification features and to segment the ship target of interest from the ocean background. A main recommendation of this report is that polarimetry could improve Polar Epsilon (PE) ship detection performance and enhance the PE concept of operations for the surveillance of spatially constrained maritime operational areas of interest such as choke points.


Oligandrin is known to induce resistance against a number of plant diseases. However, its effects on postharvest diseases are still unclear. The effects of oligandrin on the control of postharvest diseases in tomato fruit and its underlying mechanisms were investigated in this study. The treat01ent of tomato fruit with oligandrin (10 μg/ml) significantly reduced the incidence and severity of gray mould (caused by Botrytis cinerea ). After 5, 7 and 9 days of artificial inoculation, the relative cure effect was 60.5, 52.1 and 48.5%, respectively. The results from bio-assay indicated that the treatment stimulated the activity of the defense related enzymes. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activity in the oligandrin-treated fruit was about 39.2, 69.6 and 52.6% higher than that in control on the 3rd day, respectively. Furthermore, mRNA level of the genes encoding pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs), such as PR-2a (extracellular β-1, 3 -glucanase) and PR-3a (extracellular chitinase) in tomato fruit was about 2.7-fold and 4.6-fold above that of the control at the peak stage. The expression of LeERF2 and PR6, which confer an ethylene-dependent signaling pathway, were also significantly increased 6.6-fold and 3.6-fold by such treatment. These results indicate that oligandrin has the potential to control gray mould and it may play an important role in the induction of resistance to B. cinerea and the activation of the ethylene-dependent signaling pathway. Key words : Tomato, disease resistance, oligandrin, Botrytis cinerea.


Background: Chronic kidney disease and associated malnutrition is major health problem in developing countries like Pakistan. CKD patient have been related with body wasting and malnutrition. In this study we assess the prevalence of Malnutrition in chronic kidney disease patients. Objective: To determine the prevalence of malnutrition in patients with chronic kidney disease. Study Design: The type of study is a cross-sectional study. Settings: Dialysis and kidney care center in Karachi-Pakistan. Duration: 6 months from December 2017 to May 2018. Methodology: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) were included and patients with severe comorbid conditions were excluded from the study. Diagnosis of CKD was made via detailed history and clinical examination and relevant laboratory investigations. Patients were classified into 3 SGA grades. Data was collected in a pre-designed proforma. Results: 150 patients were included in the study. The mean age of patients was 58.4 ± 5.86 years. There were n= 93 (62%) males and n= 57 (38%) females. The frequency of malnutrition was n= 63 (42%) were moderately malnourished and n= 32 (21.33%) were severely malnourished. None of the patients under the age of 50 years showed signs of malnutrition. The most common etiology for CKD was diabetes mellitus in n= 75 (50%). The mean BMI of 27.6 ± 5.1 kg/m2, Triceps skin fold thickness was 18.2 ± 7.1 mm and a mean mid upper arm circumference of 23.2 ± 3.9 mm2 respectively. Chi-square test shows a significant association between the incidence of malnutrition and undialysed patients suffering from chronic kidney disease. Having a p-value of <0.001. Conclusion: The frequency of malnutrition in undialyzed patients with CKD was very high, mild to moderate malnutrition was more prevalent than severe malnutrition.


Among the countries, India ranks second in population and seventh in land area. It has fifteen per cent of the population and 2.2 per cent of the area of the world. Its population in 1951 was 357,ooo,ooo--about ninety per cent of that of Europe excluding the Soviet Union, and sixty per cent of that of China. The density of its population, 312 persons per square mile, is forty per cent higher than that of Europe excluding the Soviet Union, and 250 per cent higher than that of China. Its land area, however, is only two-thirds that of Europe excluding the Soviet Union. At the time of the 189i census, India's population was 236,0o0,000. Thirty years later-that is, in i92i-its population had increased by 12,000,0oo. During the next thirty years, from 1921 to 195i , however, India's population increased by io9ooo,ooonine times as much. It is clear from table one that before 1921, one decade of rapid population growth was followed by another decade of slow growth, and, at times, even by negative growth. This was primarily owing to frequent epidemics and famines. For example, it is estimated that India lost more than 6o,ooo,ooo people at the time of the influenza epidemic of 1918; and during the period 1898-i98, approximately half a million deaths were annually caused by plague. But since 192i, India has been relatively free from the ravages of epidemics and famines, and as is indicated in table two, the consequent decline in the death rate, rather than any increase in the birth rate, has resulted in a faster rate of population growth than before. It is generally accepted that the current rate of population growth in India is nearly two per cent per annum This high rate of population growth is unprecedented in India's history. It is not extraordinary, however, since the population growth rate currently prevailing in most of the Southeast Asian countries is also about the same. There are even some countries-e.g., Ceylon, Hongkong, Taiwan, 0 B.A. 1944, Allahabad University; M.A. 1956, Ph.D. 1957, Princeton University. Head, Demographic Research Centre, Delhi University. Author, BELIEFS AND PRACTICES RELATING TO FAMILY PLANNING: A STUDY OF THREE DELHI VILLAGES (1959); FERTILITY CONTROL THROUGH CONTPACEPTION: A STUDY OF


This study examines the life histories of three African American social studies teachers, focusing on the evolution and changes in their identities, perspectives, and attitudes related to their profession and instructional practice. In addition, the study addresses the significance of the teachers' racialized experiences as African Americans and how these experiences influence their use of culturally relevant pedagogy and other culturally responsive instructional strategies to teach their African American students. In the context of this study of three African American social studies teachers, critical race theory is used to acknowledge the teachers' life experiences with racism and the ways in which the teachers combat and address racism and oppressive mainstream educational ideologies, by sharing their counter-stories of experience in educational scholarship and their daily classroom teaching.A life history methodological approach was used to collect and interpret meaning from the narrative life stories of the three African American social studies teachers. The themes that emerge from the teachers' life stories focus on the teachers' beliefs and practices of culturally relevant pedagogy; the teachers' beliefs and practices of African-centered pedagogy; and the teachers' emancipatory teaching regarding racism in society and education. The results of this study have implications for the practice and research of African American teachers' philosophies and pedagogies; practice and research of culturally relevant teaching in social studies; and social studies teacher education.